Island police blotter

Anna Maria

No new reports

Bradenton Beach

No new reports

Holmes Beach

Aug. 7, 300 block of 29th Street, battery. A man went to the Holmes Beach Police Department to report his girlfriend struck him in the face during an argument. The officer went to the residence, where the woman admitted having an argument, but said the boyfriend hit himself. The officer indicated he could have arrested the woman for a separate drug-related charge.

Aug. 7, 5801 Marina Drive, drugs. A man went to the HBPD to report that his girlfriend hit him in the face while talking to him. The officer noticed some small items that appeared to be pills in the man’s shirt pocket and asked the man about the items. The man said he had pills to help wean his girlfriend off other drugs, and added he did not have a prescription for the drugs. The man was arrested for possession of a schedule-3 drug without a prescription and was transported to the county jail.

Aug. 8, 600 block of North Pointe Drive, theft of a vehicle. The HBPD responded to a call of a stolen boat. The residents left their house Aug. 4. They returned to find their 31-foot Edgewater outboard center-console valued at $125,000 was gone. The owner said she spoke with a neighbor, who did not see anything.

Aug. 8, 6800 Marina Drive, hit and run. An HBPD officer responded to The Moveable Feast restaurant to speak to witnesses of a hit-and-run vehicle accident in the parking lot. The officer located the offending driver and left a note for the driver to contact HBPD. The suspect did so, and admitted to leaving the scene of the accident. The man was issued a citation for leaving the scene of an accident without leaving information.

Sgt. Ron Cales arrested Armstrong in the 5600 block of Marina Drive, according to an HBPD police report.

Armstrong, a resident of the 300 block of 29th Street in Holmes Beach, allegedly was in possession of Suboxone, a treatment for opioid dependence, for which he had no prescription, according to the report. Police said the pills were found wrapped in plastic in his shirt pocket.

Armstrong later posted a $1,000 bond and was released from the Manatee County jail.

Watercraft owner suspects employee in theft

The owner of Cortez Watercraft Rental, 4328 127th St. W., Cortez, allowed one of his employees to stay overnight in the back room of his business Aug. 8.

When the owner arrived the next morning, $4,000 of electronics was gone and the employee could not be contacted, according to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office report. There were no signs of forced entry at the business.

Assault and battery lands Holmes Beach man in jail

By Nick Walter Islander Reporter

Guerra

Holmes Beach resident Jon Guerra was arrested and charged Aug. 8 with battery and aggravated assault with a firearm for allegedly threatening his son’s girlfriend with a gun.

According to a Manatee County sheriff’s office report, the victim and her boyfriend, Guerra’s son, were sitting outside a Best Western hotel at 4:40 p.m. on 2215 Cortez Road West.

Guerra arrived at the hotel and sent the victim, Samantha Lenn, a text message that said, “Come outside while I’m here.” Guerra spoke to his son before driving his vehicle toward Lenn said said, “Hey, you’re dead,” while pointing a hand gun at her, the report said. He then smiled at her and drive off.

Lenn later was smoking a cigarette outside the hotel when Guerra told Lenn, “Sam, come talk to me. I want this to be over. I’m not going to hurt you, you know me.”

When Lenn approached the vehicle, Guerra allegedly grabbed her ponytail and tried to slam her face on the vehicle, but Lenn broke loose and ran to the hotel. Guerra drove away.

A Manatee County sheriff’s deputy arrested Guerra at his home on the 200 block of 69th Street in Holmes Beach. Guerra said he does not own a gun and that nothing “physical” happened at the hotel.

Guerra was arrested and charged with battery and aggravated assault with a gun.

As of Aug. 11, Guerra was in the Manatee County jail on a $1,500 bail bond.

Holmes Beach man arrested for grand theft auto

A Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy observed a resident of the 500 block of 71st Street in Holmes Beach allegedly driving a stolen vehicle at about 6 p.m. Aug. 9 on 46th Avenue West in Cortez.

After being pulled over and read his Miranda rights, Cameron Cooley admitted to taking the van and said he thought the van belonged to his sister, and that she had given him the keys to drive it.

He also was operating the vehicle with a driver’s license that had expired in 2004.

The deputy arrested Cooley for grand theft auto. Deputies searched him and found four credit cards belonging to the owner of the van. The suspect told deputies the cards were in the van and that his sister told him to put gas in the van.

The deputies said in the MCSO report the man’s accounts of what had happened were inconsistent.

The van owner was contacted and stated he did not give Cooley permission to drive his vehicle.

BBPD arrests woman for animal cruelty

By Nick Walter Islander Reporter

Wicks

Bradenton Beach police arrested Patricia Wicks, 23, of Estero, Aug. 7 for animal cruelty after she left a dog in her vehicle in the 500 block of Cortez Beach.

A BBPD officer responded to a caller who said she noticed a small dog in a carrier on the front seat of a black 2010 Volkswagen SUV that afternoon. She said the vehicle was locked with its windows up, and a towel covered the carrier. She said she had been watching the dog for 20 minutes before calling the BBPD at 3:50 p.m., according to a BBPD report.

The officer said in the report he watched the dog panting in the carrier. It appeared to be lethargic and distressed, so the officer broke into the vehicle and placed the animal in the back of his patrol vehicle.

The officer called Manatee County Animal Services, which responded and recorded a temperature inside the vehicle of 110 degrees. It was 88 degrees outside.

According to the report, Wicks arrived at her vehicle at 4:30 p.m., about 40 minutes after the officer was dispatched. She did not appear to be concerned about the animal’s condition, the report stated.

Wicks was arrested and charged with animal cruelty. She later posted a $120 bond and was released from the Manatee County jail.